July 16, 2020:

Today marks 350 days straight that I have been journaling and sharing. I actually started journaling probably closer to 700 days ago, but I’ve only been sharing this publicly for the past year.

When I first started journaling, it was out of a need. I was feeling pain, depression, and just overall negativity in my life. I felt completely trapped, and needed a way out. I felt like I was in a constant state of fear, and missing out, and I didn’t want that to control me any longer. I found power in combating those thoughts through journaling, and I found even more power when I started to share what I was going through with others who felt the same.

Ironically the turning point for me sharing with others, was me breaking down. I had to hit rock bottom. Oftentimes when you’re at that bottom, you just feel empty. You feel broken, and you feel left out. But there are few places where you have more power than when you’re broken. There aren’t many places where you’re willing to risk everything, or finally make the decisions that terrify you. Hitting the bottom, gives you the power and the freedom to finally let go.

I’ve also learned a lot about art. I’ve been plowing through books on art history, and creativity. Through this research, I’ve learned that many of the great minds of our time expressed themselves through more than just the paint they used, the films they created, or the music they wrote.

They did it through story.

Some people say they ‘get’ art, and some people say they don’t ‘get’ art. I can understand and relate to both. I grew up with really no interest in visual art beyond just it’s face value of if it looked nice or not. After all, at the end of the day, a painting is a painting. It’s just a flat piece of cloth draped over some pieces of wood, with paint on top of it.

Yet, some paintings sell for millions, while others can’t even sell for the cost of supplies. Why is that? I think that the answer is story. Much like a beautiful song, a painting holds a story. It may hold a story of technique, an artist, an idea, an experience, etc. Though, it’s created with the same tools as others, there’s undoubted added value if there is a story that people can connect with.

But that’s not really that unique to painting is it? That’s what life is about too. Its a story. We define ourselves not by the things we do, but by the story we can tell. We define our joy based on the things we feel. No one wants to slave their whole life away solely on logistics. No, we want to feel something. Art helps you do that.